Finding the Funny: The Newbery Award and Various Works of Hilarity

Do funny books get short shrift when award season comes ah-knockin’? It’s not a ridiculous notion. After all, the Oscars are notorious for consistently promoting and lauding saddy sad performances and films over their funnier contemporaries. So I took a gander at some of the recent winners of the Newbery Award (and Honors) and determined that while humor isn’t the most lauded quality in “distinguished” works of children’s literature, neither is it a true detriment. Some funny winners that come immediately to mind might include:

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie B. Tolan

Everything On a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary

Naturally there are more out there that I’m not thinking of. There’s also the fact that humor is naturally subjective. While one person might find Catherine Called Birdy a hoot, another might prefer the works of Jack Gantos. Whatever the case, I’m happy to see such a strong showing and hope to high heaven we get a little more of this in the future.

Note: If someone wants to ascribe dates to these books, we could try to work up some kind of algorithm that determines whether humor has been lauded more within one particular time span or another.

Elizabeth Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .